Starshine's Secret
Prologue ~ StarClan "What's happening?" meowed a she-cat. "Nothing good!" spat the old tom. "Calm down, Cloudpelt…" "There's nothing we can do for her" sighed a new voice. "But…But there must be!" cried out the she-cat. "We can't just let her die…" "Wintercloud…" soothed a new she-cats voice. "Treefire?" meowed Wintercloud. "I'm here…I always was…" "What do you think we should do?" Treefire dipped her head and closed her eyes. "I have to agree with Snowstorm…" breathed the elderly she-cat. "Snowstorm," Wintercloud turned toward her. "You would really be willing to let your own sister die?" "I wish there was something I could do for her, but its out of our paws, now…" "I just feel bad for Starshine…" sighed Wintercloud. "Why?" pressed the old tom. "Well…Cherryblossom may have been her last connection to Snowstorm…" "She has Breezeheart!" retorted Treefire. "He's in a different Clan!" Treefire sighed. Each cat faded into the stars. Chapter 1 ~ Starshine "Breezeheart?" called a young, silver she-cat. She watched as two blue eyes peered out of the bushes. "Hey!" She stifled a purr as he came tumbling over the old thunderpath that marked the border between DoveClan and MidnightClan. "I thought you'd have learned by now!" He heaved himself to his paws and shook his pelt. "Wh--Something tripped me!" She let out a mrrow of amusement. "Come on Starshine! We aren't gonna spend the whole night talking about something that already happened, are we?" "No.." "Wanna go to the gorge?" "Really?" "Sure!" The two young cats walked alongside each other as they walked toward the gorge where the Clans held Gatherings. Starshine looked at the gorge once they had come to the thornbushes that led into the gorge. "Hard to believe we both met here when we were both new apprentices…" breathed Breezeheart. "I remember it like it was yesterday…" After the Breezeheart padded through the thornbushes, Starshine found herself squeezing through. She let out a snort once she got through. "Too much fresh-kill?" He teased his mate. "Huh? Maybe hunting is good in MidnightClan!" she scoffed. Starshine looked around. "It's so…empty…" "Well, what do you expect? Clan cats to be here every night?" She stifled a purr of amusement. The young she-cat looked into Breezeheart's eyes. "It would be so much…simpler if were in the same Clan…" Breezeheart looked at her. "Is…Is something wrong?" "Breezeheart---" A cat stepped out from the thornbushes. "Breezeheart?" Breezeheart looked at his mate and flicked his tail toward some nearby bushes. She nodded and rushed to hide in them. Starshine strained to listen. "Breezeheart! What are you doing here?!" "Uh…I…er…needed to stretch, so I took a walk…" "Alright…well come back to camp when your ready…" As she heard the thornbush rustle, she walked back over to her mate. "You were saying?" he purred. "I…I'm going to have kits…" Chapter 2 ~ Starshine Starshine half expected Breezeheart to be angry, but was shocked when he purred and licked her ear. "They'll be wonderful..." She let out a soft purr then looked up. It was almost sunrise. "I should get going..." she murmured. "I'll miss you." mewed Breezeheart. Starshine touched her muzzle to his and squeezed out of the entrance to the gorge. She treaded lightly back to her camp, to find Morningwish waiting for her. "You were out all night!" exclaimed her sister. Morningwish narrowed her eyes, and sniffed the air. Swiftly, Starshine began to lick the DoveClan scent off of her pelt. "Honestly, Starshine. I was choking on DoveClan scent the moment you walked in camp." mewed Morningwish in a sarcastic tone. Starshine looked at her sister. "How much do you know?" she whispered. Morningwish shrugged. "All I know is you've been sneaking out to meet a DoveClan warrior. You're lucky I haven't told Diamondstar yet. What would she think of her former apprentice?" Starshine gave her chest fur a couple of licks, then padded to the warriors den. Starshine woke up in a starry forest. Softly, she stood up. "Starshine..." She whirled around to see Snowstorm, her best friend as an apprentice. "I shouldn't be here..." mewed Snowstorm. "But I must tell you! You have to save Cherryblossom!" "Why? What's going to happen to her?!" "She will catch greencough, a deadly case, but there is no catmint in the territory yet! You must ask Breezeheart, or else, all will be lost." "But...what if that makes him hate me? I love him too much to risk his Clan." Starshine protested. Snowstorm sighed and touched her muzzle lightly to Starshine's. "May StarClan light your path..." With that, Snowstorm faded away.